Fontbonne's Boxdorfer, Westminster's Backes Named SLIAC Scholar Athletes of the Year

ST. LOUIS - Fontbonne University senior William Boxdorfer and Westminster College senior Rachel Backes will be presented the 2011-12 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Male & Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award. The presentation will be made at the conference's inaugural Awards Banquet on Tuesday, May 15, at the Soccer Park in Fenton, Missouri. The evening's events start at 5:15.

Boxdorfer, who will graduate on May 19 with a dual degree in sports management and business administration, was a four-time Academic All-SLIAC recipient and a part of two SLIAC championship teams in 2008 and 2009. He has held several leadership positions throughout his four years at Fontbonne, including serving as President of Fontbonne's chapter of Delta Mu Delta, Vice President of Admission Events for Fontbonne Student Ambassadors and Executive Chair of St. Louis Adventures for the Fontbonne Activities Board. He has also interned in the Fontbonne Admissions Office, gaining the hands on experience that will assist him in his graduate studies in either Higher Education and/or Student Personnel.

Backes, who is graduating this weekend with honors with a degree in biology, is a Dean's List student and a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor society. A four-year team captain on the Blue Jay women's basketball team, Backes is a four-time all-conference selection, was named SLIAC Player of the Year her junior season and became the first-ever All-American in program history, she earned academic all-conference her sophomore, junior and senior seasons and was named A CoSida All-District pick her final two years. She guided her team to back-to-back SLIAC tiles the past two season and the 2011-12 team won the conference tournament title to become the first Blue Jay women's team to qualify for the NCAA Division III national tournament.

During her four seasons, Backes was part of teams that compiled a school record 67 victories. She played and started in an individual career-record 101 games. She concludes her career fourth in career scoring with 1,203 points, 11th in career rebounding with 392 rebounds, and third in career assists with 295.

Contributions courtesy Fontbonne University and Westminster College sports information